Bad car crashes have been known to change peoples lives, but seldom for the better.

An accident on April 23 that caused Nathan Carter, 25, to hit a vehicle driven by Sheila Wirth, 60, appears to have made them the best of friends.

Both drivers were injured in the crash, which occurred when Wirth made a U-turn in her Kia van on Highway 32 east of Forest Ranch, and Carter’s Toyota slammed into her broadside.

Wirth was traveling with her daughter, Shelene Santisteven, on a trip from Paradise to look at Forest Ranch real estate.

“I saw a for sale sign and pulled to the side of the road to go back,” Wirth said.

She recalled watching two cars pass before she attempted the turn, but didn’t see Carter’s vehicle coming.

His car hit the driver’s side of the van near the front wheel. Both were heavily damaged.

Wirth suffered moderate injuries and was taken by ambulance to Enloe Medical Center in Chico. Carter was treated at the scene.

Though the victims didn’t talk much right after the accident, Carter was concerned about Wirth and reportedly called her every day after she returned home to Paradise.

At first, Wirth and her daughter were puzzled by his concern, since Wirth had clearly caused the accident, but believed him to be sincere.

When the women looked at the crushed van, Santisteven, who follows numerology — prediction by number studies — then noticed something that may have suggested the crash was somehow preordained.

“The front license plate on the Toyota had an 8 in it, and paint from the number had transferred onto the hubcap of my mother’s car,” she said. Santisteven thought it was especially significant because the number 8 represents infinity.

Once she was well enough, Wirth agreed to meet with Carter in Chico exactly two weeks after the accident. On Wednesday, he brought her a teddy bear and a bottle of wine. She brought him flowers.

They hugged and said it was finally nice to meet face-to-face.

Despite several previous phone conversations, they learned a lot Wednesday about each others’ lives.

Carter, a media production major at Butte College, learned that Wirth was just getting a new business off the ground in Paradise when the accident took place.

He offered to help her with his expertise in marketing, but said he’d also be happy just to produce and hand out fliers.